The computer is not only a tool for adults or students anymore. Because of the availability of personal computers and more affordable pricing, the computer is now getting very popular for home use. As a result, it has become more accessible to children of very young age. Most of the children's first contact with a computer is through playing computer games. Parents also educate their children through educational programs running on a computer. Because of their young age and not being familiar with the computer keyboard, young children often find themselves spending most of their time locating the keys on the computer keyboard or making corrections for the wrong characters they typed in. As a result, the children may feel frustrated and, eventually, may give up the idea of learning through playing with a computer. Thus, the computer keyboard designed for adults, and not intended for young children to use, may impede children's interest in learning through the computer games or programs.
Physically disabled individuals may have difficulty coordinating their fingers with what they see, or may have mobility difficulty with their limbs. Because of the size of the keys on a standard sized computer keyboard, they may have great difficulties in hitting the correct keys on a standard sized computer keyboard.
Those individuals with disabilities to communicate, verbally or written, may find it easier to communicate through typing on a computer or typewriter. Because of their disabilities, however, they may have difficulties typing on a computer keyboard with standard sized keys.
The traditional keyboard is not intended for minority group of users such as young children or physically disabled individuals. Young children tend to have problem coordinating their fingers and eyes. Physically disabled individuals may have difficulties mobilizing their limbs and fingers. They may also have problem controlling their body movements. Besides, those young children who use computers may not be familiar with the locations of the keys on a traditional QWERTY keyboard, because they are designed for typing efficiencies, and not for young children. This unfamiliarity with the locations of the keys may become an obstacle to the children in using the keyboard and, therefore, impede the children's desire to learn.
Computer keyboard manufacturers realize the frustration that young children face with the traditional computer keyboard, and try to overcome the problem. Several types of computer keyboards for children are now available on the market. Each of them has some advantages and disadvantages. Some of them are targeted toward children users only and are not suitable for general purpose use; and others may have a more attractive appearance to children users but do not have features to help those children in learning to use a computer.
Comfy Interactive Movies Ltd., an Israeli company in Tel Aviv, developed a computer keyboard for young children, the ComfyKeyboard. The ComfyKeyboard has a set of large, colorful, or labeled with pictures, keys. The ComfyKeyboard can only be used with programs developed specifically for the keyboard, for instance, ComfyLand, because it has only twenty-one keys. ComfyLand is a series of animated cartoons. By pressing one of the twenty-one keys on the keyboard, children can change the colors or musical sounds in the cartoon. The ComfyKeyboard is not made to use for a word processor or spreadsheet. Therefore, the usage of the ComfyKeyboard is very limited.
KidBoard, Inc. developed a KidBoard keyboard. KidBoard has color-coded keys with pictures. KidBoard also has a decorative frame which looks like a smiling face. KidBoard has the standard QWERTY keyboard layout and the standard sized keys.
Jerry Wagstrom of Huntersville, N.C., developed a Kid Keys keyboard for children. The Kid Keys has oversized, colorful keys arranged in alphabetical order. The color arrangement in Kid Keys is that vowel keys are yellow, "R" key is red, "Y" key is yellow, "B" key is blue, and "G" key is green, and the rest of the keys are grey.
The Kid Keys' arrangement of keys in alphabetical order may help those children who first learn to use a computer and are not familiar with the location of the keys. However, when they grow up to the age to learn to type, they may have a problem adjusting themselves in learning the layout of a QWERTY keyboard on a standard keyboard.